You may notice there is a slight naming and style change with the this guide. I’m trying to trim out all of the useless fluff, especially since I can’t write a one-size-fits-all-netbooks guide without going into too much detail. I’m also preparing to convert the guide over to a wiki format so that other users can pitch in with corrections and handy articles without my intervention. That part is still in the works, but for now this will do.

The donation page has been updated, I’m not taking PayPal donations anymore but I do have some other ways to payback, check the page for details. I decided that with the neglect this site has been under I shouldn’t accept money donations until there is substantial work done here again.

And for anyone wondering how the 1012 handles OS X: it works, but… meh. I still prefer the 10v experience. The 1012 could get better soon with meklort’s further development, but for now the 10v is better.

The guides probably won’t be updated real soon

This is because there are a lot of kinks that still need to worked out, and I don’t know how to work them out. Specifically, some of the material in guides 2-4 is getting too technical to write a simple guide.

I bought a Dell Mini 10 (1012) to test on

Since Dell didn’t put Mac-friendly hardware in the 1012, the next-best option is to make it friendly. I can’t do much but I am ready to explore a new netbook. I need something to reinvigorate me.

Another year of hosting

Thanks for the donations folks! Hosting for another year is more than paid for.

Site restructuring ideas

I’ve toyed around with converting completely to WordPress or another blog service to simplify updates. The most appealing idea to me right now is to convert most of the pages to WordPress pages and start a wiki for the guides. This would make it easier for others to help out with guides for specific models, hardware compatibility pages, and other random stuff that I can’t think of right now. Like I said these are ideas, but don’t be shocked if the layout changes a bit.

I’ll get to the e-mails… kind of

Let’s just put it this way: some of the e-mails I haven’t responded to are over a month old. I have more time now, but not enough patience to answer questions that the sender probably already fixed or forgot about. I’m putting in an effort this weekend to answer as many of the most recent ones that I can muster, but everyone else will probably be getting an standard “please resend or disregard” type of message. It’s not that I don’t care, I just know that it’s not fully reasonable.

My purpose for Twitter

While I may not “tweet” that much, it’s for a reason: I only tweet when I have something to update or just share off the top of my head. It’s come to my attention lately that some people have -is replied the correct word?- to some tweets looking for troubleshooting advice. Sorry, it’s not that kind of tool for me. Just thought I’d let anyone who was curious know.

So yeah, these are just some things that are going on. Mostly I’m just grateful for those of you who have donated and had patience. I appreciate it, I really do.

That leaves two options if you still want to obtain one from Dell: 1) The Nickelodeon edition for your kid or the kid at heart, or 2) Dell Outlet. I recommend option number 2, primarily because every Dell system I have purchased has been a refurbished model from the outlet and all have been outstanding. Plus, if there is a problem (I had sound issues on one netbook) the support team can usually rectify it quickly.

From my own experience you can “lurk” or “stalk” the the Home laptops page sorted by price and every once in a while a real steal will come up. I’ve seen some lately for as low as $209, although I have purchased a 10v in the past for $199 plus a discount coupon. Oh, and there is a 20% off coupon running right now until the 30th, so this is an excellent time to get a 10v.

UPDATE: For clarification, the Dell Mini 10v is also known as the 1011. This is will probably be the most helpful for the Dell Outlet to find the correct model. Also, the Dell Mini 9 is still available if you like cramped keyboards, but there aren’t as many of those floating around.

I’m working on an update guide next for those of you who already have a working Snow Leopard system.

Meklort has updated NBI with a new release candidate for 0.8.4. The primary benefits are support and fixes for 10.6.3 and a new auto-reinstall feature should any updates be applied in the future.

In case you can’t wait, you need to install this new NBI and then the 10.6.3 update afterward. I’m scattered between finals, a bad battery and corrupted applications right now but I should have the guides updated shortly.

Oh, NetbookCD will be getting tested during my reinstall trials. I’ll post more about that later too.

View more information and release notes over at Meklort’s Blog.

I’ll update the guide once 10.6.3 is released (since I can’t test out a guide if I don’t have the software) and also any further updates to NBI that may happen before then.

First of all, there have been no significant improvements to any of the software or guides during this time period. The Mac OS version has remained consistent, and to my knowledge no new problems (read: nothing out of the ordinary) have cropped up, or for that matter been solved. I have no new solutions, no new special fixes, just the same old stuff.

Second, a recurring theme is my inbox that keeps filling up with questions. I do try to answer them as frequently as I have time, but that’s come to around every week or two instead of my normal schedule. Also related to that is my inactivity on MyDellMini; I do plan on getting back to posting, but now is not a good time.

The underlying reason to this is my going back to school. Most of you may not have realized this, but I actually don’t know how to program yet. Okay, I know how to make basic calculators and stuff, but that’s it; part of my curriculum is to progress further into programming. Besides a hectic class schedule I am also working, so overall my free time is almost nonexistent. I might also mention that meklort, who does the actual programming for NetbookInstaller, is also currently busy with a new job yet he’s been doing a better job than me at keeping up on the forums.

So that’s what has been going on. Don’t worry, not much has happened so you haven’t missed anything.

As such, my inbox has steadily filled, and the comments here have gone unanswered. I’m really sorry about that, but I have finally caught up on a few things so I should be able to complete them by the end of the week.

On a final note, I have seen a few message subjects about the NBI 2 guide. I’ll answer them still, but really everyone should be trying all three methods for Windows, not just one. There are three posted because no single method works for everyone.

dylar at MyDellMini pointed me to Image Writer, which is way better than the dd command that I’ve been using in the guide forever. Plus, it shortened down the instructions quite a bit. Since the whole Windows section has changed, you’ll want to reread it through if you were having trouble before. And as always, leave a comment or send a message about how it worked.

Please make sure to follow every warning and detail, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not attempt to contact me if you are using a dowloaded/torrented/pirated/illegitimate version of Mac OS X, it wastes time for both of us and I will eventually find out since they don’t work with my guides.

The big update for the NBI 2 is a flat image based on NetbookInstaller 0.8.3 Final. I’ve also changed the Windows instructions so that all three major versions (XP, Vista, 7) use the same instructions. I found a bunch of errors throughout as well during the process. I had to remove the Windows screenshots because they were horribly inaccurate with the new instructions, I will try to upload new ones in the next few days.

So that should be it, besides adapting the updates for the MyDellMini Guides section.

I’m still working on the other guides, and making more corrections in NBI 1, so please check back for more updates.